In the fifth year of Qingli, with Li Yuanhao's humiliating defeat, the temptation of the Liao State came to an end.

Yelu Zongzhen was really shocked by the power of the Song people's muskets, and finally did not dare to act rashly.

In fact, muskets were not superior to cold weapons in the early days, and early smoothbore arquebuses had disadvantages such as slow rate of fire, short firing range, easy to explode, and poor accuracy.

But Zhao Jun knew the defects of the early smoothbore arquebus, so he didn't go to this thing at the beginning, but went directly to the black powder era, the best musket, the rifled flintlock pistol.

With the Mini cartridge and the rifling to stabilize the bullet, this design was at the pinnacle of the musket era, and the rifled flintlock pistol represented the highest level of achievement before the invention of the mercury cap and the transformation of muskets into rifles.

The flintlock pistol in the Napoleonic era did not suppress the heavy cavalry, especially in France, the infantry group has basically popularized the flintlock pistol, and there is also artillery, but in Napoleon's army, there are still a large number of heavy cavalry.

However, that was because during the Napoleonic era, their cavalry was specially trained, not only to train the horses with explosions to prevent them from being frightened by loud sounds, but also to train them with fire to prevent them from panicking at the sight of the flames from the muskets.

There is also a way for cavalrymen who really don't have time or training, and that is to blindfold their horses.

The heavy cavalry phalanx formed in this way can still pose a threat to the musket phalanx that has not completely formed a fire suppression when charging.

In addition, the firearms of the Napoleonic period at that time were not rifled flintlock pistols using Mini bullets, but smoothbore flintlock pistols, which were not invented by the British until the third year after Napoleon's death.

So to sum up the above, it is not that the cavalry cannot fight with the musket. It was not until the First World War, when armored cars and Makqin became popular, that the cavalry was completely wiped out.

It's just that at least Yelu Zongzhen definitely didn't have a way to deal with the Great Song musket.

In order to prevent the horses from being frightened, he did not train the cavalry in fire prevention and explosion protection. There was also no organization of heavy cavalry specifically for muskets - his leather chamber army was still dominated by leather armor, which did not prevent bullets from penetrating.

This resulted in the use of light cavalry to fight against the musket team of the Great Song Dynasty, which was no different from sending them to death.

Li Yuanhao is an example.

His Iron Harrier was actually a heavy cavalry unit, but it was not the full-body armor of the Napoleonic era, but only the upper body was armoured, and the horses were not armoured.

As a result, the Song army's thousand-man musket squad, the 3,000-strong Iron Harrier Army and the 10,000-strong ordinary light cavalry were beaten to the ground, and the cannonballs and the flames from the muskets were spewed out.

Therefore, seeing Li Yuanhao's fiasco, Yelu Zong really knew that at least before finding a way to guard against the Song people's muskets, or making a batch of muskets himself, it was not a good choice to go south to attack the Great Song Dynasty now.

However, although Li Yuanhao's side suffered heavy losses, it was not too much of a loss. Because in order to let him send troops, the Liao State still gave him a lot of things, which can be regarded as being able to make up for the loss of sending troops and compensation this time.

Compared with the huge size of the Liao and Song dynasties, the volume of Western Xia was still too small. Liao and the Great Song Dynasty had something flowing out of their fingers to be enough for Western Xia, but it would not hurt their muscles and bones because of this time.

But this was a very big political and military blow to Western Xia.

The Dangxiang tribe itself has been accustomed to being a vassal state of the Great Liao and the Great Song Dynasty since the time of Li Jiqian, and has been defeated by the Great Song Dynasty several times in a row, and the spirit has been congenitally short of the Song people, and the noble leaders are unwilling to fight with the Great Song Dynasty again.

The main battle faction Zhang Yuan was slaughtered again as a gift to calm the anger of the Great Song Dynasty, and now there are no people from the main battle faction in the whole country, and Li Yuanhao wants to take the initiative to provoke an attack on the Great Song Dynasty, I am afraid it will be very difficult.

Of course.

This is all Li Yuanhao's business, and it has nothing to do with the Great Song Dynasty.

Just after the New Year of the fifth year of Qingli, Bianliang was lively.

Last year, the Kaifeng Mansion froze in the lunar month, and the government hired people to carry out the work of clearing the snow and breaking the ice.

The Bianhe River was reopened, and it had just begun in spring, and it was only a month, and there were already many merchant ships coming and going.

In recent years, the biggest problem in Bianliang has not been the increasing number of migrant workers who have caused difficulties in all aspects of the city's management.

However, the carrying capacity of several rivers such as Bianhe, Caihe, Guangji River, and Jinshui is not enough, and every spring and summer, when the commodity trade is at its most prosperous, the river blockage occurs repeatedly.

This is clearly a serious impediment to economic development.

Therefore, Zhao Jun plans to build a new canal outside the city, digging from Huazhou to Kaifeng, a straight-line distance of about 100 kilometers, and the use of people is afraid that it will be more than 100,000 people.

On January 14, in the Constitutional Yuan, not long after the New Year, tomorrow will be the Lantern Festival, and the government will be closed again after only a few days of work, so the officials inside and outside the Constitutional Yuan are not very energetic, and they are thinking about where to go to play tomorrow's holiday.

Zhao Jun didn't lie flat, he is now the first powerful person in the substantive Great Song Dynasty, Zhao Zhen has to look at his face, if he wants to lie flat and live a luxurious life, not to mention a colorful life, it can be regarded as doing whatever he wants, and he can go wherever he wants.

But he is quite a bit of a workaholic, thinking about the things of the strong Song Dynasty all the time, and now he has been in the Great Song Dynasty for almost nine years and has done a lot of things, but he still feels that he is not satisfied, and he is still struggling on the front line of work.

Mainly in his eyes, the development of the Great Song Dynasty is still too slow.

Except for the relatively advanced military and steelmaking, which reached the level of the early stage of the industrial revolution, other aspects are miserable.

For example, there is no scientific system, experimental principles, formula establishment, industrial standardization, and assembly lines.

It can be said that the overall progress is very slow, and it has been nine years since the steam engine was built.

But it can't be helped.

A lot of things can't be made by knowing the principles.

Science needs a system, and it needs to be constantly experimented and explored, and it is not that it can be produced immediately if you know the principle.

But the fire has already been planted.

The Great Song Dynasty now opened modern schools across the country to teach mathematics, physics and chemistry in elementary and junior high schools, and since last year, mathematics has been included in the imperial examination again, becoming a key subject in the Jinshi examination.

As long as we wait patiently for a few more years, wait for other physical and chemical knowledge to take root and sprout, and then include physics and chemistry in the imperial examination in the future, I believe that a complete scientific system belonging to the Great Song Dynasty will be born in the next ten years.

"Hanlong, what are you looking at?"

In the morning, after the morning court ended, many prime ministers went home to rest for a while, almost an hour later, and at the end of the morning, at nine o'clock in the morning, they came to work again.

Yan Shu is relatively energetic, the first to arrive, the rest of Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and they are unwell, and it is common for them to arrive late and leave early.

Sheng Du still did not survive last winter, and died of illness at the end of the year.

Now Zhao Zhen also sympathizes with these old ministers, allows them to rest for a while, and even allows them not to go to the early court, so sometimes Zhao Jun often works alone in the Constitutional Yuan.

"Didn't the court discuss the blockage of the Bianhe River this morning? I was thinking about how nice it would be if we dug a canal from Huazhou to Bianliang. ”

Zhao Jun looked at Yutu and said.

Yan Shu walked over and wondered, "Do you dig another river to lead to Bianliang?" The city can't afford to do anything like that right now. ”

"It's definitely not possible to dig through the city directly, how much land will have to be expropriated in that way."

Zhao Jun pointed to the map and said: "Just dig from Huazhou to Kaifeng Dongcheng, the city will expand in the future, and there will definitely be large-scale development outside Dongcheng, and Huazhou will dig a canal to the south, which can divert the Yellow River and reduce the pressure of the Yellow River." Second, the ship coming from the Daimyo's Mansion in the future will not have to take a long detour to Biankou first. ”

The Yellow River in the Song Dynasty was very different from the Yellow River in later generations, which was directly next to Kaifeng City, but in the Song Dynasty it was in the south of Xinxiang City, a hundred kilometers away from Bianliang. It passes through Huaxian, Puyang, Liaocheng and Shanghe, and finally enters the sea between Wudi County and Binzhou Zhanhua District.

Even if the Song Dynasty Sanyi returned to the river, the location of the diversion was not in Kaifeng, but in Puyang downstream.

This situation was until the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Yellow River flooded and diverted several times, and finally after Pan Ji tamed the river in the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River officially began to move southward from Guangwu Town in the northwest of Zhengzhou City to Jihui District, flowing through Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Lankao and then north.

Then the bald head blew up the mouth of the garden, and the course was changed again, forming the Yellow River in later generations.

Therefore, the Yellow River in the Song Dynasty was very far away from Kaifeng City in later generations, and there was no canal in between, and the only connection between the two sides was the Bianhe River.

As a result, if the shipping of the Hebei Daimyo Mansion wanted to think of Bianliang, it was necessary to first sail from the Yongji Canal into the Yellow River, go upriver for more than 100 kilometers, and then sail into the Bianhe River to Bianliang from the Banzhu Ferry in Bishui Town, Xingyang City, Henan Province, which greatly increased the voyage.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Guo Shoujing presided over the large-scale construction of the canal, and then dug the Jeju, Huitong, Tonghui and other canals, and changed the canal into a straight line to connect the north and south, which was more than 900 kilometers shorter than the Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty.

However, the Yuan Dynasty built the North-South Canal in order to quickly connect the political center Beijing with the economic center of Hangzhou, and the economic and political center of the Song Dynasty was in Kaifeng, which already had a canal with Hangzhou, so naturally there was no need to build a river from Beijing to Hangzhou like the Yuan Dynasty.

However, with the gradual construction of Hebei's iron and steel industry, it is imperative to strengthen the economic and political ties between the Daimyo Mansion and Kaifeng Prefecture, so the reopening of a shipping route from Huazhou has an important role in promoting the economic development of the two places.

Yan Shu looked at the signs on the map, and after thinking for a while, he nodded slightly: "Well, if we build a canal, it will indeed be very beneficial to the Great Song Dynasty, and even if the Liao Kingdom calls in the future, we can quickly respond." ”

"Later, I will ask Jia Changchao to find someone from the Ministry of Industry to issue a plan to me, how many people will be used, where to dig, and all aspects must be made detailed preliminary preparations."

Zhao Jun put down the brush in his hand, he drew a few times on the map just now, but this kind of random graffiti is definitely not good, and he still has to conduct field investigations.

But he doesn't have to go himself, this kind of thing is explained below, and it is enough for the people in the Ministry of Industry to do it.

"Okay."

Yan Shu responded.

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Di walked in, he still held an official document in his hand, and his face showed a solemn expression.

"What's wrong with Retro Gong?"

Zhao Jun looked at him.

Li Di threw the official document in his hand on the table, shook his head and said: "These merchants are too bold, they actually bypassed the border market of my Great Song Dynasty and directly sent the goods to Runzhou in the Liao Kingdom. ”

"Tax avoidance, it's normal."

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Let the navy keep an eye on the point, and dispose of it if it is found." ”

Li Di rolled his eyes and said: "The navy has already found out, but they have accepted bribes and turned a blind eye, if it weren't for the reorganization of the army this time, and the navy has also been reorganized, I'm afraid the imperial court still doesn't know how much it has been concealed." ”

"I'll see."

Zhao Jun immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, took the official document and began to read it.

The Great Song Dynasty actually had a navy, or it would be more appropriate to call it a sailor, because the so-called navy actually did not have a fleet, and it was also negligent in training, and its strength was very poor.

Therefore, throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, the navy almost did not appear, except for the appearance of the Ping Navy when it was in the maritime alliance.

After Zhao Jun developed Japan's Goryeo trade, he began to prepare for the formation of naval forces, and built three navies in Donglai, Shandong, Huainan, and Cangzhou, Hebei, namely Shandong Ping Navy, Huainan Town Navy, and Hebei Ding Navy.

The current navy is not what it used to be, except for the sailors, the ships are equipped with cannons, just like the kind of side guns in the Caribbean, and even the main guns on the front.

In this way, the combat effectiveness of the navy was greatly improved, and when the Liao State had almost no naval strength, the three fleets of the Great Song Dynasty were almost rampant and domineering in the Bohai Sea, the Yellow River, the East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan, and no one could compete with them.

Zhao's next step is to build another fleet in the South China Sea to ensure the safety of shipping along the Maritime Silk Road.

However, now there are a large number of merchants who evade taxes, and do not sell things from the border market of Cangzhou in the Great Song Dynasty to the Liao State, but directly pull goods from Goryeo, Japan and run to the Liao State, and there is corruption in the sea fleet, which is a serious problem.

This means that the fleet is corrupted and its combat effectiveness becomes low, which is an important threat to dominating the sea, and Zhao Jun naturally does not allow such a thing to happen.

After reading the official document, he said with a serious face: "This problem is still very serious, the regulatory power at sea is still not in place, and the ships will lose contact with the country after they go to sea. ”

"yes."

Li Di shook his head and said, "For this reason, the imperial court doesn't know how much tax it will lose." ”

"It's a pity, we still have to build a scientific system as soon as possible, so that we can get out the electromagnetism, and then we can find a way to send a telegram in the future."

Zhao Jun sighed and said: "I'm still too busy now, and from inventing electricity, to wired telegraphy, and finally getting radio waves, I'm afraid it will take a long time to study, and I can't do it so wholeheartedly." ”

"Everything is difficult at the beginning, what is lacking in the Great Song Dynasty is the entire scientific system, and after the basic knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry is popularized in the Great Song Dynasty and a complete system is formed, these things will be much easier."

Yan Shu was relieved.

"Hmm."

Zhao Jun responded, and then suddenly said: "In this official document, it is said that the things that Japan sends to Liao are basically sulfur? ”

"yes."

Li Di said: "Since the end of last year, Liaoguo has not known what is crazy, and began to buy sulfur in large quantities at high prices, and the price of sulfur is rising day by day, and the sulfur shipped back to our country is much less. ”

Zhao Jun touched his chin and said with a smile: "This is a good thing." ”

"Is that good?"

Yan Shu was speechless and said, "We can't afford our own gunpowder. ”

"Arrange for individuals to sell the complete black powder formula to them at a high price, so that Liaoguo can continue to buy sulfur."

Zhao Jun said with a smile.

"Huh?"

Li Di was shocked: "Han Long, how can this work? ”

"Okay."

Zhao Jun explained: "This is consuming the national strength of Liao, the arms race, they are pouring the country's strength into firearms, won't the national strength decline?" Our Great Song Dynasty is thriving, one is going to be the other, and there is a little more possibility of destroying Liao in the future. ”

Yan Shu had heard him say that the gunpowder formula could be sold to Liao in the future, but Li Di didn't know.

He wondered, "If the Liao State also develops the same firearms as us, then won't we be able to fight them again?" ”

"Who said that?"

Zhao Jun said with a smile: "The arms race is about who develops better weapons first, the question is, do they have qualified steel?" Is there a Mini bullet? Is there granulated gunpowder? Their firearms will always be worse than those of the Great Song Dynasty, and when they finish these, maybe the Great Song Dynasty will have made yellow powder, so what are they afraid of doing? ”

The industrial age is the era of crushing agriculture through scientific advancement, and even industry is superior and inferior.

Now that the Great Song Dynasty has initially entered the first industrial revolution, Zhao Jun's two epoch-making steel-making technologies have given them ultra-fast steelmaking efficiency.

In this way, the Great Song Dynasty will have explosive growth in steel, but the Liao State is still in the agricultural era, even if there is a complete formula of black powder, with musket cannons, the quality, range, power, and quantity are very different from those of the Great Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhao Jun has never been afraid that Liao will also develop firearms, but hopes that Liao will do so.

Because only when Song and Liao entered the period of arms race, Liao's national strength would be greatly consumed in the military, which would not help the people's livelihood.

As long as the science and technology of the Great Song Dynasty has been stepping on the head of the Liao State, then the comprehensive development of people's livelihood, economy, military and so on will always stabilize the Liao State, and the Liao State will not be able to be militarily stronger than the Great Song Dynasty.

To some extent, Zhao Jun is forcing the Liao State to focus on the military.

If they don't let go, if they don't let go, the military of the Great Song Dynasty will only continue to be strong, and the Liao State will still maintain the original cold weapons, and sooner or later it will be blown up by the artillery, grenades, and muskets of the Great Song Dynasty.

Therefore, this can be regarded as a conspiracy and the best way to weaken the Liao State.

Now that Liao has slowly figured out a formula that is close to complete black powder, it is better to take advantage of the current situation to maximize the benefits and sell the complete black powder formula to Liao at a high price to squeeze its last benefits.

Anyway, the complete black powder is not the most powerful, and you can also add egg white granulated black powder.

At that time, taking advantage of the development of the Great Song Dynasty in recent years, the people's livelihood has corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes and other things to raise more chickens and ducks, so they will buy more chickens and duck eggs, hoard granular black powder, and produce steel artillery and muskets in large quantities.

Liao still has to finish the ball.

(End of chapter)